Norfolk-Middlesex County MA Archives Biographies.....Lovering, Warren 1797 - 1876 ************************************************ Copyright. All rights reserved. http://www.usgwarchives.net/copyright.htm http://www.usgwarchives.net/ma/mafiles.htm ************************************************ File contributed for use in USGenWeb Archives by: Joy Fisher sdgenweb@yahoo.com March 12, 2006, 7:30 pm Author: E. O. Jameson (1886) HON. WARREN LOVERING. WARREN LOVERING, son of Amos and Lucy (Day) Lovering, was born Feb. 21, 1797, in Framingham, Mass. In 1798, when Warren was about a year old his parents removed to Medway, Mass., where his life was spent, and his death occurred Aug. 21, 1876, in his eightieth year. Mr. Lovering was educated and fitted for college in the schools of Medway. At the age of sixteen years he entered Brown University, from which he graduated in 1817 with high honors, being one of the first six in his class. His classmate, Gov. Charles Jackson, of Rhode Island, referring in earlier years to his life in college, said: "Mr. Lovering lived an exemplary, moral life, and was a true gentleman; he was a born gentleman." After graduation he returned to Medway where he studied law, and was duly admitted to the bar by the County Court in Dedham, Mass. He opened an office in Medway Village in 1820. He soon acquired a high reputation as a lawyer in the county of Norfolk, which drew to him both clients and pupils. He was possessed of unusually varied acquirements in literature and history. Before he was thirty years of age he was chosen to represent the town of Medway in the Legislature of Massachusetts, and between 1826 and 1835 he was a member of six legislatures, and was afterwards a member of that of 1846. As a representative he soon attained an enviable position, and did much toward moulding and shaping the legislation of the State. In the years 1836-37 and '38 he was chosen by the people of the county, as the law then provided, a member of the Executive Council. The Hon. Edward Everett was at this time the Governor of Massachusetts, and with him he was in intimate personal relations. In 1839 he received from Governor Briggs an appointment as a member of the Board of Bank Commissioners for three years, an appointment which was renewed in 1842. He was also one of the commissioners for adjusting the boundary line between Massachusetts and Rhode Island. He was among the founders of the Whig party in Massachusetts, a member for many years of the State Central Committee, and one of the ruling spirits on that committee. He was chosen to represent his Congressional District in the National Whig convention which nominated Gen. William Henry Harrison for the Presidency, the other prominent name before the convention being that of the Hon. Henry Clay. It was said that to no one did Mr. Harrison owe more for his nomination than to the influence of Mr. Lovering in the convention. Subsequently Mr. Lovering visited Mr. Harrison in his home in North Bend, O., traveled with him through the West and was an intimate friend to the President, and had Mr. Harrison lived, Mr. Lovering would have filled some office under his administration. But with President Harrison's death the hopes of the Whig party were blasted, and Mr. Lovering's political influence commenced to wane. He was well entitled to a seat in Congress, and his name was frequently brought forward in the local conventions of the party, but he never secured a nomination. These repeated disappointments at length gave rise to a morbid melancholy, to which he is said to have been predisposed by his temperament, and this, though interrupted by occasional intervals of health and cheerfulness, at length blighted his prospects, both political and professional, and destroyed his happiness. He lost his interest in his profession and in public affairs, and allowed his estate gradually to pass into other hands. In 1851, at the age of fifty-four, he married Cornelia A. Phipps, of Holliston, Mass. At the age of sixty he retired from active professional and public service, and the last twenty years of his life were spent in an almost painful seclusion. He was without near kindred in this vicinity, the new generation that was about him knew little of his former prominence and ability, and almost forgotten and without friends and penniless, one of Medway's ablest and most eminent citizens died at the age of eighty years, Aug. 21, 1876, while the nation was celebrating the centennial of its marvelous history. "One lesson which the life of this gifted and cultured man teaches is that however popular and prominent men may become in public affairs, they may live to be forgotten and unappreciated by a whole generation. It teaches also, a lesson of the broadest charity in our judgment of men, especially those whose mental or moral vision has been clouded, either by disease, disappointment, or any providential event. The funeral obsequies of Mr. Lovering were held in the Village church. The Rev. Mr. Jameson, of East Medway, conducted the service. His address left little that ought to have been said. Appropriate musical selections were sung by the choir. The Masonic fraternity, of which the deceased in early life was a prominent member, attended the service, and performed the ritual for the dead at the tomb in the Oakland Cemetery." "IN MEMORIAM." "Then I saw one— no, did not see — Tears would gush out 'twixt him and me, I'd known him long, I'd known him well, And in his converse felt the spell, And knew, full well he had a mind Keen, accurate, polished and refined. A Chesterfield in airs and dress, Without one touch of his excess, But tasteful dress and graceful air Come not from special thought and care, But blossoming or outer trace, Of inner culture, power and grace. His native state who knew him best, For she'd applied full many a test, Selected him from all her hosts, For many of her highest posts, And choicest honors freely shed, On her accomplished servant's head, And, in whatever station placed, He filled, not only well, but graced; And honors falling to his lot, He wore as if he knew it not. Not one of those who magnify A humble post as if a high, Or magnify a high, and then Feel that they're wiser, bigger men. Whate'er he gained, he gained because He earned it with just what he was; And having earned it. felt no more In worth's price current than before, Yet notwithstanding all he'd done, Positions gained and honor won, All felt assured that he had not Had all the honors that he ought, Chicanery oft in friendship clad Secured the prize he should have had. Books were his friends and played a part, The nearest, dearest to his heart, And every, thought he read, he shrined Within his memory and his mind. My friend when I had met him last, I hardly knew; he'd changed so fast. That lofty spirit that had been, At work so long and well within, Had lost its fire, had lost its power, Disarmed in its dismantled tower, And soon, all helpless, had to come, To die away from friends and home, No kindred ear to hear his sigh, No kindred hand to close his eye. Farewell, my friend, accept from me This humble tribute paid to thee I cannot think without a tear, What sorrow thou didst suffer here. But fondly hope and trust that thou, Art free from care, and happy now. Forget thee! with such memories frought, Though all forget thee, I cannot." Additional Comments: From: THE BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES OF PROMINENT PERSONS, AND The Genealogical Records OF MANY EARLY AND OTHER FAMILIES IN MEDWAY, MASS. 1713-1886. Illustrated WITH NUMEROUS STEEL AND WOOD ENGRAVINGS. BY E. O. JAMESON, THE AUTHOR OK "THE COGSWELLS IN AMERICA," "THE HISTORY OF MEDWAY, MASS.." ETC. MILLIS, MASS. 1886. Copyright, 1886. E. O. JAMESON, MILLIS, MASS. All Rights Reserved. J. A. & R. A. REID, PRINTERS, PROVIDENCE, R. I. File at: http://files.usgwarchives.net/ma/norfolk/bios/lovering68gbs.txt This file has been created by a form at http://www.genrecords.org/mafiles/ File size: 8.1 Kb